Bose’s new SoundLink Max has a small control and a big sound

Say what you want about Bose’s most ambitious changes — I appreciate this happening in the first place — but today the company is launching a new product in a category it’s always excelled in: Bluetooth speakers. Bose is more or less supersizing its SoundLink Flex into a new, larger model called the SoundLink Max. Considering how Bose’s acoustic processing has for years squeezed impressive sound out of relatively small hardware, I’m excited to know what a larger device is capable of. .

Arriving on May 16th for $399, the new speaker comes with three transducers and two custom passive radiators. So, you will already have a big improvement over the mono SoundLink Flex.

Now, I can get really annoyed when tech companies charge a lot of money for Bluetooth speakers that just do Bluetooth, so I’m happy to see that Bose has equipped the SoundLink Max with a good old-fashioned auxiliary input. A button on the speaker can be assigned to Spotify Tap or to switch to whatever is connected to the auxiliary jack.

But in reality, most people will use wireless technology more often, and thankfully the company has included AptX Adaptive codec support for higher bitrate streaming than the standard AAC and SBC that the speaker also uses. supports. Battery life is rated at around 20 hours, and like many other current portable speakers, it has a USB-C port that can be used to juice up your phone when you’re away from an outlet.

Measuring 10.42 inches wide, 4.73 inches tall, and 4.13 inches deep, the SoundLink Max weighs just under two pounds, and that was enough for Bose to include a (removable) lanyard strap. The company is also selling a larger lanyard strap if you want to throw the speaker over your shoulder. Like the SoundLink Flex, Bose offers the Max in black or light blue and is IP67 rated to withstand the elements.

Stay tuned for impressions of Bose’s SoundLink Max in the coming weeks. The new season of Bluetooth speakers is upon us. I’ve also been testing Sony’s $500 ULT Campo 7 lately, and let me tell you, this thing has more speaker than most people would need in the warmer months. But it’s also in a completely different size class to the SoundLink Max. I’m hopeful that Bose’s secret sauce will allow its latest speaker to defy expectations.